Entry-Level: Windows Movie Maker 2

If you're running Microsoft Windows XP, you have a lot of video-editing choices, ranging in price from free to $700 or more. Given the cost and complexity of higher-end products, it's best to purchase the least expensive product that will perform the editing functions you need. So the logical starting point in your decision process is the free .

Movie Maker is included as part of Windows XP. If you purchased Windows XP before Service Pack 1, you may be running Movie Maker 1.1. To get the latest version, simply use the Windows update feature. With Version 2, Microsoft has produced a competent video-editing solution that includes a good selection of transitions, title options, and 2-D special effects. One especially fun feature, called AutoMovie, can automatically convert your video footage into MTV-like music videos using selectable themes to control the style and pace.

Being a free application, Movie Maker doesn't aspire to compete with midrange products. It offers enough basic features to get the job done but stops short of the abundant options and effects found in other programs. For example, although Movie Maker includes many text motion effects for rolling credits and similar animations, there are no canned text styles to aid in the design. You can't adjust volume levels at specific locations in the timeline but only a track at a time. And Movie Maker 2 has no built-in DVD or Video CDauthoring capabilities.

Other weaknesses include awkward trimming controls that make performing precise edits difficult, and a general lack of configurability. For example, you can't set levels on filters like blur, pixelate, and other special effects.

You can add some useful features by purchasing Microsoft Plus! Digital Media Edition ($20). Most notably, the Plus! Digital Media pack adds an effect that can pan and zoom on still photos, as Ken Burns has done in many of his documentaries.

Movie Maker 2 can handle very basic projects, but many people will want a program with more features. In fact, two deficits prevented Movie Maker from being able to complete the midrange test script: It doesn't let you insert a logo, nor does it allow you to change video speed.

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